3 Essential Portrait Photography Tips For Beginners

Portrait photography tips can be helpful to a beginner because there is a certain format that these types of photos must follow. Here are three tips to help get you started.

1. The Subject Dominates the Frame

Portrait photography is all about the subject and that's who should dominate the frame. You can shoot them in front of a nice background that's appropriate to the subject, such as a business executive in their office, but the background should never take away from the subject.

2. Depth of Field

A shallow depth of field works best with portrait photography because it helps separate the subject from the rest of the image. When the background is slightly blurry and the subject is sharp then he/she is going to pop out.

3. Rembrandt Cheek Pattern Lighting Looks Nice

You can light a portrait photography shot with two lights; the key and the fill. The key is the brighter of the two lights and is positioned on the subject's most flattering side. You then raise the light on it's stand so that it is beaming down on the subject. This will cause the upper cheek to be bright, just like in the portrait paintings of Rembrandt. We then add the fill light to the other side of the subject's face to reduce the shadows and evenly expose them.